Is Android still open now that Google has postponed the source code release of Honeycomb, version 3.0 of the mobile operating system? I've been reading a whole boatload of articles and blog posts on the web claiming Android is no longer open, but it seems like very few people seem to actually understand what 'open' really means when it comes to the GPL and the Apache license. Here's a short primer.

If they don't want cheap Android tablets to tarnish the Android brand, they should just do what Haiku and Red Hat do: protect the Android trademarks through a licensing and quality control program, and restrict access to Google services such as the Android Market to devices that are properly licensed.

One of the Mozilla guys made the same point, since that's their approach too (the whole Ice Weasel thing).

And I agree - if the problem is the potential for damage to the Android brand, then solve the problem directly by regulating third-party use of that brand, not indirectly by trying to restrict access to the code.